Violin bow



March 11, 1941. H- No1-TER 2,234,682

VIOLIN Bow Filed Aug. 26, 1958 ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 9 Claims.

'This invention relates generally to bows for playing instruments of the violin class and is particularly directed to violin bows which must have certain peculiar qualities in order that they may be effective for producing the various tones or notes which are desired to be produced by the violin. The bows, such as commo-nly used at the .present time, are said to have been developed or perfected in the sixteenth century, since which time nothing more has been added to it .and no changes have been made in its construction. While the form and construction of these bows are well known they vary greatly in quality 'or capacity to Kproduce the desired tones for reasons which were probably not well understood as bows made as near alike as possible may have entirely different playing characteristics.

The objects of the present invention are to provide an improved .bow for playing instruments of the violin class; to provide a bow constructed in such a manner that its playing qualities will be substantially predetermined and uniform; to .provide means for resiliently connecting the hairs of a bow to the rod at one or both ends thereof; to provide a nove1 spring for connecting the hairs of a bow to the frog; to provide novel means for fastening the ends of a group or bunch of hairs together and for connecting the same with a supporting spring; to provide means for placing a tension on the side of the bow opposite from the hairs in the manner of an ordinary bow for adjusting the tension on the hairs; and in general to provide such improv-ed features and advantages as Will appear more fully from the following description.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred form of my invention- Figure 1 is a. side view with .parts broken away;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal s-ection through the frog and coacting parts;

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3-3 of 'Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a detail view of the spring;

Figure 5 is a perspective view'showing means for fastening and holding the ends of the hairs together; and

IFigure 6 is a sectional view showing such fastening or clamping means after being folded to finished position.

As shown in the drawing, the bow 6 has the usual sticker rod 1 with a raised end or projection 8 at its outer end which is shown as being formed integrally with the rod in the usual manner although the rod instead `of being made of wood may .be made of metal or other suitable material if desired and suitable provision made for connecting the hairs thereto. In the form shown the hairs 9 are connected at I0 to the raised end 8 in the usual manner. The opposite ends H of the hairs are however hunched or grouped together as shown in Figure 5 and cemented by means of suitable cement, such as casein cement, in a ferrule or binder I2 made of leather or other fibrous material which may be cemented securely to the ends o-f the hairs. This ferrule or binder is arranged in a channelshaped metallic clamp I3 having upwardly eX- tending sides I4 as shown in Figure 5. These sides are then bent in .to make a clamp or fastener of tubular form as shown in Figure 6, the arrangement being such that the hairs will be securely held in predetermined position and the clamp will also serve as a fastening means to fasten the hairs to the frog i5. I have found that it is somewhat diicult to hold the ends of the hairs by means of cement or friction alone but by having the hairs cemented to the leather covering and then clamping it in the metallic holder a firm and substantial fastening is provided.

Horse hairs are commonly used in such bows and I have discovered that such hairs are resilient and capable of considerable stretching or elongation but are slow to return to their normal condition, This characteristic undou'btedly varies with different hairs and may be one ofthe reasons for uncertain results in bows otherwise appearing to be the same. It is generally understood that horse hairs have projections somewhat in the nature of barbs so that part of the hairs are arranged in `the bow with the barbs extending in one direction and the rest with the barbs extending in the opposite direction and it seems probable that it is the action of these barbs, together with the resin placed on the hairs, that is responsible for the vibrations produced when the bow is moved over the strings. In bows as heretofore made the ends of the hairs are usually fastened directly or rigidly to the frog or adjusting member at the handle end of the bow.

In accordance with the present invention. I provide a spring or resilient means in series arrangement, or interposed between the ends of the hairs and the frog whereby more ilexible tension may be provided for the hairs and whereby the hairs may be returned to normal position, after being flexed, more quickly than will be provided by theresiliency of the hairs, or the ability of the stick to resume normalcy. The spring is o-f unusual construction and is tuned to most efficiently operate or vibrate at approximately the scale fbased on A at 440' vibrations lper second. The end of the spring which `is attached to the hairs is of substantially U-shape, the base of which acts as a fulcrum to carry the pulsations to the center loops of the spring which vibrate up and down, this action being without any friction as friction would largely destroy its operation, especially in the frequencies above 440 which would be largely negatived by any frictional or damping action.

The frog or adjustable member I5 is made in the form of a channel or with a longitudinal re-` cess I6 for receiving the spring I'I for connecting the hairs to the frog. This spring is formed of a strip of nat spring metal having a plurality of loops I3 as shown in Figure 2, which are preferably arranged at a slight angle to the longitudinal center of the spring or so that the loops are not normal to the center. One end I9 of the spring extends from approximately the transverse center and engages with a shoulder Z in the frog where it is held by a screw or bolt 2l. The clamp or band I3 fits in the groove or corrugation 22 formed by the last loop 23 at the inner end of the spring. This loop is longer than the other loops and its curved portion rests on a plate 2d at the bottom of the groove Iii which extends inwardly a short distance at this point. The extreme end 25 of the spring, which is sul.ik stantially widerthan the remainder of the spring, forms an abutment over which the hairs extend as shown in Figure 2, the arrangement being such that as tension is applied the inner end of the clamp I3 will act as a lever or iulcrum for supporting the tension and holding the parts together as will be readily seen. The frog is prolvided with a cover 26 having sides 21 which engage with dove-tailed grooves 28, and is also provided with ears or extensions 29 to cover the openings in the side of the frog provided for receiving the widened end 25 of the spring and also provides lateral support. The cover may be held in position by a threaded cap or nut 3G which engages with the screw 2 I.

'The frog or adjustable member I5 has a groove SI on one side for engagement with the octagonal end of the rod 1, which groove is provided with a liner 32 which may be formed of any suitable material such as Celluloid or metal and which is adapted to slidably engage with a corres-pondingly shaped plate or guide 33 on the adjacent end of the rod. The frog has a threaded projection or nut 3/-3 which projects into the usual opening 35 in the rod and is engaged by an adjusting screw 36 which is turned by means of the button 31 for adjusting the frog in the usual manner.

When the button is turned to tighten the hairs or place a strain thereon for playing it will be noted that the spring I1 is not merely extended longitudinally but has a rather peculiar action. The plate 24 acts in the nature of a fulcrum so that the pull on the free end 25 of the spring tends t0 rock the U-shaped end portion of the spring as well as to extend it longitudinally. The inner loops or bends of the other loops or corrugations I8 are free from the channel and when tension is exerted on the free end of the spring these loops are swung outwardly somewhat as indicated by the dotted lines, so that there is a lateral bending component and action of the spring as well as the longitudinal movement to the same. I have found that this provides a very delicate adjustment and that any vibrations or strains placed on the hairs 9 in playing an instrument will be taken up by the resilient action of the spring as well as by the coaction of the hairs and rod. The spring tends to hold the hairs taut and will act quickly to return the same to normal position or to hold the hairs closely in engagement with the strings of the instrument being played upon thus eliminating slippage and poor tones.

It is generally understood that the character of a bow or perfection of the same is largely dependent upon the wood used in the rod and for such reason Brazil-wood has been largely used for this purpose, particularly with the bows that have commanded relatively high prices. However, by means of my improved construction I have found that comparatively cheap bows may be utilized, or the construction used in the cheaper bows and with my improved tension apparatus substantially the same results or better results may be obtained than with the high-grade or high-priced bows such as are considered necessary by artists for producing high quality music. Comparison of relatively cheap bows having my improvement applied thereto with high-class or expensive bows indicates that the various tones such as legato, spiccato, staccato-flying, harmonies, and the like may he played as effectively with the improved bow as with such high-grade and expensive bows.

In addition to the tension means provided for the supporting of the hairs I also provide for further adjustment in the nature of a tension string extending between the ends of the rod on the side opposite from the hairs as shown in Figure 1. One embodiment of such adjustment comprises a band or anchor 38 which is fastened to the rod adjacent to the outer end and another band or anchor 39 which is fastened to the rod adjacent to the handle end. A bearing 4i) is pivotally mounted at 4I to the band 39 and carries a slidable threaded rod or bolt 42 having an adjusting nut 43 at one end. A cord or wire 44 is connected with the bolt 42 at one end and the band 38 at the opposite end. The nut or adjusting wheel 43 is positioned adjacent to the hand of the user so that it may be readily and quickly adjusted even when the bow is being used. Tightening the string or wire 44 of course tends to increase the strain on the hairs which is desirable for producing certain tones while loosening the tension on the cord reduces the tension on the hairs which is desirable for other tones.

While I have shown the spring or tension means as applied to one end only of the hairs it will be noted that such means may also be applied to the opposite end of the hairs and other changes made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims, in which I claim:

1. A new article of manufacture comprising a bow for playing instruments of the violin class having the usual rod and having freely vibrating resilient means connected in series with the hairs and with one end of the bow rod.

2. A bow comprising a rod of the usual character having substantial stiffness, hairs secured to one end of the rod, a support adjustably mounted on' the opposite end of the rod, and resilient means interposed between the ends of the hairs and said support.

3. The combination with a bow having the usual stick or rod, including hairs for engagement with an instrument and having a frog, of resilient; means connecting the hairs with the frog and adapted to vibrate freely under the action of the hairs.

4. A device as per claim 3 in which the resilient means comprises a corrugated spring formed of a strip of flat spring metal having one end connected with the hairs and the opposite end connected with the frog.

5. In a violin bow, the combination of a rod, hairs having one end secured to one end of the rod, a frog slidably mounted on the opposite end of the rod, means for adjusting said frog, a spring formed of a flat strip having one end secured to the frog and the opposite end secured to the hairs with the intermediate portion formed of a plurality of substantially transverse loops.

6. A violin bow having an adjustable frog with a longitudinal recess therein, a spring having one end secured to one end of the frog and having the remaining portion formed into substantially transverse loops arranged at a slight angle to the center of the spring, the outermost loop being longer than the others and having its bent portion engaging with the bottom of the recess to provide a fulcrurn, and means for securing the hairs to the free end or the spring whereby adjustment of the frog will cause tension to be placed on the spring and hairs tending to elongate the spring and also to bend'it transversely as described.

7, In a bow, the combination of a rod having a projection at one end and a longitudinal opening adjacent to the other end, hairs secured to said projection, an adjusting screw engaging with the opposite end of the rod, a guide strip secured to the side of the rod, a frog having a liner plate engaging with said strip, a nut secured to the frog and extending into said opening in the rod and engaged by said screw, the frog having a longitudinal slot making it substantially channelshaped in cross section, a` shoulder at one end of the slot, a plate in the bottom of the slot adjacent to said shoulder, a corrugated spring having one end secured to said shoulder and having its folded portion extending through said slot with the ends of the loops normally engaging with the bottom of the slot, said spring having a widened free end with its bent portion engaging with said plate in the bottom of the slot, a clamp secured to the ends of the hairs and engaging with the loop at the free end of the spring and serving to fasten the hairs to the spring, a cover plate for the frog, and means for securing the plate to the frog.

8. The combination with a violin bow including a stick, a frog and screw means for adjusting the frog with respect to the stick, of a spring having one end attached to the adjacent ends of the hairs and one end of the bow and adapted to take up the longitudinal vibrations of the hairs during the playing action of the bow whereby the spring instead of the stick will take care of the played frequencies.

9. The combination with a bow of the character described, having a bow stick, an adjustable frog and the usual bunch of hair secured to the outer end of the stick, of a spring having one end secured to the frog and having a plurality of lat-- eral bends, the end bend resting on the frog and the other bends being free, the bunch of hairs being secured to the last-named bend, the arrangement being such that the free portion of the spring may vibrate laterally to provide for rapid vibrations.

HARRY L. NOTTER. 

